Saturday 30th March, 2024 - Eating Glass (Issue #157)
Bitcoin scaling, social media federation, Bitcoin on feature phones, Microstrategy strategy, the slaughtering of good media outlets, fascinating Bitcoin mining dynamics
Hello and welcome to my newsletter!
Another season 2 instalment…
Lots of great podcasts this week, especially related to Bitcoin, sone great technical deep dives. The other theme this week is new media, both social media and media news outlets. There’s some really good stuff that’s worth a listen.
I’m feeling quite a lot better after the second round of antibiotics I took for my lung infection. It’s been about a week since I finished the course. My ankles did become swollen and are still somewhat swollen. Not sure what that’s about.
As for my static site generator, I’ve gotten stuck in the weeds consolidating and cleaning up plugin repos. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to look at that again. I’ve made a bit of progress on the new interleaved posts main page. I think I might have found a simpler way than I was attempting previously, so I’m trying that. It’s all hampered by the swollen ankles though, as I only have internet access while standing at the minute, which obviously isn’t great for the swollen ankles.
Not much else to write about. The title this week was from the fact that I found small glass pieces in my breakfast again this week. The place in question is a food stand that’s only open in the morning, located out of a motorbike repair shop. It’s not the first time it’s happened. A bunch of stuff happened that leads me to believe it might not be entirely accidental. What are the chances the very same week there’s a great bitcoin podcast by a bloke going by the name of Bitcoin Mechanic?
Life is so bloody difficult and weird sometimes. Actually to be honest this sort of coincidence happens constantly. Anyway enough about that, on with the newsletter…
This week’s podcast selection:
Podcasts
The Challenge of Scaling Bitcoin with David Seroy (What Bitcoin Did Podcast) - This was all about the possibility of ZK rollups on the Bitcoin chain. Technically it would require a soft fork, which is very unlikely to happen anytime soon, but there might be a way to get almost the same functionality using Bitvm. David’s thesis is that we could implement the 95% solution, then if folks like it, push for the soft fork. Whereas current Bitcoin does send/receive/store pretty well, ZK rollups would add programmability, so you could theoretically start routing inbound and outbound payments for your business based on pretty much any data source. You’d also be able to program the logic in any programming language. The solution would sit along side existing solutions like Lightning and be very complimentary. https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/the-challenge-of-scaling-bitcoin
Federation is the future of social media says Bluesky CEO Jay Graber (Decoder Podcast) - In the social media space, Bluesky and it’s AT protocol have what is probably the most advanced and elegant solution. Adoption hasn’t been meteoric because they are competing with large established entities like Meta/Threads but the features they’ve been able to deliver are by far the most impressive of the current social media players. Jay discusses all the important topics surrounding the company, it’s a must listen for anyone interested in social media. https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vcmVjb2RlZGVjb2Rl/episode/MzBlOTlkODQtOWVhZC0xMWVlLWJkZjctNWJiNGU1NjkzYTVh?sa=X&ved=0CAYQkfYCahgKEwjAyLzT2pqFAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQ3QE
Bitcoin in Africa with KG Founder of Machankura Ep#121 (Citadel Dispatch Podcast) - Really interesting episode about his custodial Bitcoin solution Machankura, deployed in a many countries across Africa. The cool thing is that their solution works with old school feature phones. And it's suprisingly advanced in terms of functionality. In a way, it's simplicity is it's strength. If users can add credit to their phone, then they send/receive/store bitcoin. They even have a way to pay for groceries directly in stores via lightning, and a way to buy bitcoin annonomously using cash via gift cards or directly over the counter in participating stores. It's really very impressive. https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9zZXJ2ZS5wb2Rob21lLmZtL3Jzcy9jOTBlNjA5YS1kZjFlLTU5NmEtYmQ1ZS01N2JjYzhhYWQ2Y2M/episode/MmYwMmNjNjEtYmFlZC00NTE2LTkxOWItNTFlYzUxMThkNDBh?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahgKEwjAyLzT2pqFAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQjwY
MicroStrategy Deep Dive w/ Jeff Walton (We Study Billionaires - Bitcoin Podcast) - Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin strategy with his software company MicroStrategy almost defies belief. He’s buying as much Bitcoin as possible then using the gains to buy more Bitcoin. In this episode the hosts discuss all the finer details and what they expect might happen in the future. https://www.theinvestorspodcast.com/bitcoin-fundamentals/microstrategy-deep-dive-jeff-walton
Rich Idiots Are Killing the Media To Please the Tech Industry (Better Offline) - Many / most of the promising new media outlets from the 2010s have disappeared. The prevailing narrative is that the internet is killing journalism. Ed Zitron makes the case, backed up by personal experience of working in many of these outlets, that they are in fact being run into the ground by inept executives, possibly with ulterior motives. https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub21ueWNvbnRlbnQuY29tL2QvcGxheWxpc3QvZTczYzk5OGUtNmU2MC00MzJmLTg2MTAtYWUyMTAxNDBjNWIxL2NmMGMyNWFkLWNmMDEtNGRhNS1hZTFjLWIwZmMwMTVmNzkwZS81M2VkMjcwYi03MTQ3LTRmNzAtODFjMi1iMGZjMDE1ZmU0ZWQvcG9kY2FzdC5yc3M/episode/MmEzMzA2NDUtNmZlMy00MzEwLWEwMTctYjEzZjAxNzU0OTBm?sa=X&ved=0CAQQ8qgGahcKEwjYrOzb3JqFAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ
The Battle for Bitcoin with Bitcoin Mechanic (What Bitcoin Did Podcast) - A seriously good deep dive into all the dynamics, both technical and business, around bitcoin mining. Bitcoin Mechanic clearly knows the territory like the back of his hand. He also knows a lot about the business side having worked for many years in the space. I learnt a lot from this episode. A absolute must listen if you are interested in understanding the finer details of the forces that affect Bitcoin. BM coincidentally, I presume, sounds a lot like Ed Zitron from Better Offline. What are the chances? https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/the-battle-for-bitcoin-with-bitcoin-mechanic
Links, notes and blog posts
I published lots of links, notes and blog posts this week on the website. Definitely check them out:
https://markjgsmith.com/links
https://markjgsmith.com/notes
https://markjgsmith.com/blog
That’s all from me…
Best reguards,
Mark
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Have a great weekend and a fantastic next week!